We are used to thinking that the universe revolves around us. That nothing superior to humanity could ever exist. But realistically, our time is only a small fraction in the billions and trillions of years that the universe has been in existence.
In this episode, Dr Avi Loeb returns to the podcast for a deeper dive into what the universe has to offer—and how human ego is preventing our capacity for human progress.
Once upon a time, the biblical story of Abraham and Lot was written. The lives of these two coincided with the arrival of a meteor that obliterated the entire region.
Religious narrative explains that this was a manifestation of God’s wrath. The city of Sodom was destroyed because of the sinfulness of its inhabitants. But the alternative is that it could have just been about a meteor that happened to hit that city.
Dr Avi Loeb’s point is that the narrative does not necessarily put humans at the center of a big event. This rock was heading for a collision course with Earth long before Sodom was constructed and inhabited by people who sinned.
For people to deserve punishment, we must assume that free will is a possibility. But how does this align with the reality that the meteor was already on its way to Earth millions of years before these people were even conceived?
These are interesting contradictions to think about. They are borne out of humanity’s desire to assign meaning and purpose to these events, with us at the center of everything.
Consider this: our recorded history only covers the past 10,000 years.
The amount of time it took for humans to create, develop, and launch rockets to the nearest star spans 50,000 years.
And stars were formed billions of years before the sun.
What does this tell you? It means that humanity is grappling with vast distances and incredibly long time scales. If there are other alien civilizations out there, it’s presumptuous to assume that they are the same as us.
What’s likelier is that they may not be synchronized with our progress, not just temporally but in terms of tech advancement as well. It wouldn’t be wise to assume that our existence has a massive impact on the entire timeline of the universe.
Human history has shown that groups of people are consistently trying to become superior over others. You only need to look at the results of the Second World War and the Nazi regime to see how destructive it can be to feel superior.
So what would help unite us and prioritize our equality?
Dr Avi Loeb believes we need to accept that we are not the smartest kid on the block. If there are alien civilizations, it’s more than possible that they have progressed faster and further than we have.
All our genetic differences are insignificant and meaningless. The Nazi doctrine, and other radical ideologies that seek to discriminate, will lose meaning.
“We will perhaps have more respect towards each other and regard all of us as equal members of the human species because there is a smarter kid on the block. How can you brag if there is someone much better than you are?” Dr Avi Loeb points out.
What good is our technology if we only use it to advance a particular niche that does not help the totality of human understanding? Take a closer look at what’s being developed and you’ll notice that the benefits of these innovations are not always aligned with humanity. We need to stop advancing technology just for the sake of making bigger and better-looking technologies.
To guarantee our preservation, we need to humble ourselves and bring our focus back to humanity. We won’t progress if we don’t unite. We won’t know more if we’re too afraid to disprove the theories we hold so close and dear to ourselves. And we won’t know how to empower ourselves if we think that we already have the answers, by some misplaced idea that we are at the center of the universe.
In this episode, Dr Avi Loeb returns to the podcast for a deeper dive into what the universe has to offer—and how human ego is preventing our capacity for human progress.
Sign up for TARTLE through this link here.
